Best music software

[tobler]

Hi

I have recently bought an iMac and totally love it.

Here's the story:

I like making music. I am very amateur at it, but I want to find the best thing on the iMac to suit my needs.

Firstly - Garageband is ok but I would like it to have electronic synths.

Secondly - Korg Gadget on the iPad is very good. However, i wish it was on the iMac and I wish I could record voice straight on to it.


So in essence, I want something similar to garageband and Korg Gadget. Something that has electronic synths built into it and has the capacity to record voice straight on to it.

Can anybody help?

Many thanks in advance.

Tobler

 

[Squirkytunkle]

Hi

I have recently bought an iMac and totally love it.

Here's the story:

I like making music. I am very amateur at it, but I want to find the best thing on the iMac to suit my needs.

Firstly - Garageband is ok but I would like it to have electronic synths.

Secondly - Korg Gadget on the iPad is very good. However, i wish it was on the iMac and I wish I could record voice straight on to it.


So in essence, I want something similar to garageband and Korg Gadget. Something that has electronic synths built into it and has the capacity to record voice straight on to it.

Can anybody help?

Many thanks in advance.

Tobler

The most obvious answer, and the one I would recommend myself is Logic Pro. It's actually extremely affordable these days and goes for around £149 (roughly that anyways). There are plenty of built in synths within Logic itself, and you can then invest in some better 3rd party options down the line if you feel like (plenty of fun to be had there too)

If you don't already have one, you'll need an audio interface for recording vocals, but there are some very good affordable options out there. More expensive options have things like better mic pre-amps, but you'll still get some very good performance with some of the budget options. I'm using an older Focusrite Saffire LE which cost me £200 and performs very well. One of their most recent models will get you great performance.

Check this link for an idea of some options:

http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/13-of-the-best-budget-usb-audio-interfaces-570850

Some might suggest an option like Ableton Live as an option. It's a fair bit more expensive than Logic, and only performs better in some respects, like as in the name with the ability to work live- Logic I find, is not so friendly in this respect. If that's something you would value then it could be worth having a look at this option.

Otherwise, Logic is an amazing piece of kit- it used to cost £700 or so at one stage, but Apple has dropped the price from quite a few years back. There's loads of fantastic plugins/effects within Logic too.

One other thing that would be well worth investing in if you're planning to do a lot of vocal recordings is a Microphone Vocal booth. If you're recording in a room with poor acoustics, like many of us bedroom producers, a half decent Mic Vocal booth will produce much more usable recordings that are easier to mix later. I have one from Amazon.co.uk which cost me £60 and it works a treat. Here's a wee link to that one:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...ocal shield&qid=1439490285&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

There's loads of youtube videos to help you along the way with whatever DAW you choose.

Best of luck with whatever you choose, and enjoy!

 

[tobler]

The most obvious answer, and the one I would recommend myself is Logic Pro. It's actually extremely affordable these days and goes for around £149 (roughly that anyways). There are plenty of built in synths within Logic itself, and you can then invest in some better 3rd party options down the line if you feel like (plenty of fun to be had there too)

If you don't already have one, you'll need an audio interface for recording vocals, but there are some very good affordable options out there. More expensive options have things like better mic pre-amps, but you'll still get some very good performance with some of the budget options. I'm using an older Focusrite Saffire LE which cost me £200 and performs very well. One of their most recent models will get you great performance.

Check this link for an idea of some options:

http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/13-of-the-best-budget-usb-audio-interfaces-570850

Some might suggest an option like Ableton Live as an option. It's a fair bit more expensive than Logic, and only performs better in some respects, like as in the name with the ability to work live- Logic I find, is not so friendly in this respect. If that's something you would value then it could be worth having a look at this option.

Otherwise, Logic is an amazing piece of kit- it used to cost £700 or so at one stage, but Apple has dropped the price from quite a few years back. There's loads of fantastic plugins/effects within Logic too.

One other thing that would be well worth investing in if you're planning to do a lot of vocal recordings is a Microphone Vocal booth. If you're recording in a room with poor acoustics, like many of us bedroom producers, a half decent Mic Vocal booth will produce much more usable recordings that are easier to mix later. I have one from Amazon.co.uk which cost me £60 and it works a treat. Here's a wee link to that one:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004UKTJ1M?keywords=vocal shield&qid=1439490285&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

There's loads of youtube videos to help you along the way with whatever DAW you choose.

Best of luck with whatever you choose, and enjoy!

Wow! An amazing response! Many thanks indeed - lots to chew on here. T

 

[Squirkytunkle]

Wow! An amazing response! Many thanks indeed - lots to chew on here. T

Not a problem at all.

Just a couple of things i should mention in case you're not aware. The first is a good set of studio monitors for mixing if you're pretty serious about it. I have a lovely pro set, but with the terrible acoustics of the room i'm in, and with the fact that cant treat it, i use a good set of studio headphones. You can get a good set like the AKG-240 for around £70. Ive used them and had a very good experience.

Mixing on headphones all the times is far from ideal, as any engineer will say, but it's still very do-abe in getting good results. It could be an option to start you off. The AKG's are good for mixing, but not so for recording as they are semi-open i.e. the sound will leak out which is obviously not so great for when you are recording your vocals and can hear your headphone mix back on the recording. You could get a cheaper closed back pair for recording to start with- you'll not need them to as accurate as the headphones you'll use for mixing (others will disagree). I know one particular bedroom engineer who only uses headphones- out of choice- and his stuff sounds amazing.

Another thing to look at for recording vocals is a good condenser microphone. They offer much more detail and clarity compared to a dynamic microphone (although they have their place depending on who or what you are recording and can be a great thing to have in your kit too). There are more opinions on the options than there are microphones. A Rode nt1000 i find is a good all round solution for starting off, although people have very different subjective experiences with mics in general. For sure though, you can definitely get professional recordings with this £200 mic when plugged into a half decent audio interface.

As with everything I've said, you will get different opinions, however, you can get very good pro results with not having to spend a fortune.